Intrepid
by OnihumoExplosionsInc
Summary: Sometimes, a person can still be the same even through reincarnation. Sometimes, they can even remember their past life. And sometimes... sometimes it is even a boon to the one who remembers and not a curse.
1. To Remember

**Ok, to clarify, this is not an SI. In fact, this is more like a crossover. But considering that the OC was a mix of several characters or character archetypes and does not refer to any particular universe beyond regular earth, I do not believe it to be one. If you truly want to consider this a crossover, then consider the movie "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" to be it. One of the contributors to my OC was Sean O'Connell in this movie, but there are other contributors.**

 **In addition to that, this fic is not set during the main timeline. None of the Straw Hat Pirates are even born yet. The OC in this story is in the same age bracket as Shanks, Buggy, Mihawk, Doflamingo, and all of those characters.**

 **I do not own One Piece, or any original work that I may pull inspiration from. Citations at the bottom.**

On an island on the Grand Line not very far away from the desert island of Alabasta, a small village resided on the beach. There was nothing particularly special about the island or the village beyond the cliffs surrounding the island(barring the entrance to the single cove), and the extensive system of caves riddling said cliff and tunneling throughout the island.

The island had a forest covering the vast majority of it, with the village on the cove to promote trade with their closest friendly neighbor, Alabasta. Mostly the island, called Amayar, sold lumber and a small number of fruits and vegetables that were surplus crops to Alabasta.

Amayar may not have been wealthy, but they did well enough in their trade and had enough economical independence that no one in the village ever starved.

And since it was an island, there were fishermen that went out each day onto the ocean to catch fish and help support the population with their catch. It was on a day when many of these people were out fishing that the traditional Grand Line unpredictable weather hit.

As a small community, most of the dozen or so fishing vessels were manned by families. And when the storm hit, while many of the vessels managed to get to safety while bearing only minor structural damage to their boats, one vessel was capsized during this storm and smashed into a series of rocky spires near the entrance to the cove.

This was both a curse and a blessing.

The people on that little fishing boat were a mother and a father that perished that day on the sea. And, as bad as that was, it could've been far worse. For they had a young son of the age of seven, a curious and intelligent kid, that normally would have been on the boat with them. However, on that particular day the kid had gone to explore the caves, and his parents had let him go have fun.

So, even as his parents died, at least they knew that their son was alive and would be well taken care of. What they did not know, and would never know, is that their death caused something to awaken in their child that day.

*!*!*!*!*!*!*!**!*!*!*!*!*

Diardi Drazen was a relatively normal child. He liked to learn new things, and enjoyed exploring his home island Amayar and the caves on it, but that is not very far out of the norm for a seven year old child.

One particularly sunny day, when he was really supposed to go with his parents fishing, but instead decided to go on an 'adventure' leaving only a note for his parents behind.

That would one day become one of the biggest regrets in Drazen's life, that he never got to see his parents one last time before their death.

Grabbing a sturdy stick and heading out into the woods, Drazen wanted to explore the cave system that ran through the entire island. Lots of kids did it, and the day was really nice. The sun was out, there were very few clouds, and while it was slightly warmer than average that just meant that the caves would be even more awesome to explore.

A thin stretch of the woods of Amayar separated the village from one of the easiest to reach cave entrances. It was hidden behind a thick tangle of vines and bushes, but it wasn't that difficult for Drazen to get into.

Just well hidden if you were unaware that it was there(the people in the know about this cave included the entire town, so that they could use the caves to hide in in case of an attack).

Drazen had been playing in the caves for a couple of hours, marking off different tunnels and just generally having fun when Peregryn, the massive blacksmith that'd been friends with his father since they were children and that everyone in the village called Perry for short, ran into the cave as fast as he could.

It was unusual for anyone to come down to the caves, especially if they weren't children, so of course Drazen went to meet Perry the moment he noticed the blacksmith. A sense of unease filled the dark-haired child, however, when he saw the burly and stoic man up close.

Perry was soaked, the type of soaking you get from a torrential downpour, and he had an expression of utter sorrow on his face. Not all of the moisture had been from the rain, Drazen realized, but when the boy had last been outside there hadn't been a cloud in the sky. Perry, when he saw the child heading toward him, stumbled into the wall and slid onto his knees with a light sob filling him.

That was when fear really struck into the heart of the kid, and his head began to pound almost like there was something inside of him waiting to be let loose. As the son of fishermen, he already knew the dangers of an unpredictable sea, and that a storm that sneaks up quickly could spell disaster.

"Mr. Perry," The young child croaked out, "Is something wrong?"

"You're alive, thank goodness you're alright," The massive and rough seeming individual spoke in a deep but extremely relieved voice.

"Mr. Perry…" The ache behind Drazen's eyes got even stronger, feeling like something was pounding on a door inside of his mind.

Perry shook his massive, shaved head, before croaking out, "I told them. That no one had seen you get on the _Blue Fisher_ with Mylo and Zlata. You're alive."

Drazen hesitantly inched closer, "What happened?"

And as the weathered and craggy face of the blacksmith looked into the face of the tanned and dark haired child, the older man gently bowed his head, "Mylo and Zlata… their ship got capsized during the storm. Everyone else managed to make it to shore… but their boat was too close to the reef and was blown into it. I'm so, so sorry."

Drazen, upon hearing those words, simply froze. He could hear screaming, but it seemed so far away. The noise in his head was getting louder, and _louder, and_ _**louder...**_ until, silence.

And then Diardi Drazen, seven years old, and last survivor of the Diardi family collapsed. When next he woke, nothing would be the same for more reason than one.

*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*

At first it was all white. Completely blank, no corners or shadows, just an unending field of white. But then, amidst all of the blankness, a shadow appeared. It grew in size and color, warping slowly to give itself shape, and when it had stopped a single door stood amidst the white.

Drazen, while he wasn't entirely sure what was going on, felt drawn to the door. Everything felt fuzzy and weird, like there was something wrong, something that he couldn't quite remember, but the white seemed to comfort him. The door, a rough wooden thing that showed wear and tear, stood proudly in the midst of the blankness.

Drazen was right up next to it, and placed his hand on the handle before hesitating at opening the door. The nob appeared to be made of iron or steel, and while dull was extremely durable. Everything about the door seemed well made, but utilitarian. Plain and humble, but durable and strong.

Eventually, it was the feeling of rightness that sung through the young child from the door that caused him to open it.

As soon as the door was flung open, the whiteness seemed to get brighter and brighter, overtaking everything in a flash of bright light.

And at that moment, Diardi Drazen opened his eyes in a small, homey but unknown room, tears streaming down his face.

And he remembered.

*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*

Peregryn the blacksmith, known throughout his home as Perry, carried a young boy in his arms back to the village. While the man couldn't stop his tears( _his best friend had_ _ **died**_ ), he still held the catatonic child close.

Drazen was a good kid, one who liked to learn and figure out new things. He didn't deserve the death of his parents.

As soon as Perry, grieving but so relieved that the boy hadn't been embraced by the sea, had told him of the storm, Drazen had thrown his head back and screamed. It was a horrible sound, made all the worse by the broken sobbing that had happened afterword, and while Perry had held the boy and tried to give as much comfort as he was able… Drazen did not seem to register any of it.

Eventually as the large man held the son of his dead friends(patient and understanding Mylos, kind and sweet Zlata), silently swearing that he would insure that the kid was well taken care of, Drazen fell asleep having cried himself to exhaustion.

When Perry began his slow trudge back to the village, the storm had already broke, leaving behind sun and dripping leaves.

That storm… it was truly a terrible example of Grand Line weather. It had happened so quickly, and with such sudden ferocity, that no one had seen it coming until it was to late. Most of the fishing vessels that had been out had been damaged, and were all run aground on the sandy shore of the village.

But the Diardi's… the boat had gotten terribly unlucky, grinding into the sharp, rocky maze that lay just beneath the surface past the entrance to the cove. It was normally something of a defense measure, to prevent large and unknown ships(which tended to be marauding pirates, usually from Jaya) from reaching the village.

On this day, it prevented Mylos and Zlata from ever being able to come home. It turned their son into an orphan. It also, though no one would know it for a long time, was one of the catalysts for the eventual existence of the greatest explorer the world had ever known.

So Perry carried Drazen into his house, tucked him under a blanket on his futon in the little guest room, and then left to mourn his friends with his wife Christana as well as get ready to house a child and to prepare for a funeral.

All the while, Drazen began to recall a past life while asleep. A life that was both him and not him. Memories that would aid him, help him to figure out an outlet for his grief. Because it was not two different people fighting for control, it was not an older soul erasing the younger and leaving only scant memories, this was the unlocking of the memories of a past incarnation.

Drazen could choose to ignore it if he wished, but he had the memories of a dead man, and while it did not change who _he_ was, it did change the way he saw the world.

In the years to come, the boy would need all the help he could get just to survive, especially from the memories of an intrepid photographer and survivalist that he'd been previously.

Regardless, the curiosity that filled him in each incarnation caused him to want to know, to learn, to document, and to seek out extraordinary things. Fitting indeed that he would stay the same even before he could remember his past life.

 **:Eiichiro, Oda. One Piece. Shueisha, 1997. 85 Vols.**

 **If you do not like OC's, that's fine. Beyond Drazen and an OC that hasn't been introduced yet, most of them won't be recurring. That does not make them unimportant, however.**


	2. Write and Draw

**Ok, I'm sure you'll all understand where this is going by the end of the chapter, but sad backstories are probably a requirement of One Piece. Also, I need Drazen to be in a particular place at a particular time, so...**

 **I do not own One Piece, or any original work that I may pull inspiration from. Citations on previous page.**

Chapter 2

Drazen was different, the people of Amayar quickly noticed. While it was strange to see the little boy that had run around getting into constant trouble act so grown up, they couldn't blame him.

While death was a fact of life, children should not have to deal with it so young, especially not in such a peaceful village.

And now the seven, nearly eight, year old boy was attempting to cope and the citizens didn't have the heart to try and stop him. A child should still be focused mostly on playing, not attempting to get everyone in the village to teach him everything that they knew.

It made him so happy learning recipes from old granny Maera, how to tie knots from one of the Alabastan merchants, or herbal properties from Anelara the healer, not to mention how Perry had taken him on as an apprentice. And little Drazen wrote down every little technique and scrap of knowledge in a journal, filling them up and then hiding them somewhere.

It felt good, to teach someone so clearly interested and motivated, no matter how sad the reason that he had desired to learn was.

The kid was amazing at drawing, however, though they understood his motivation at getting that good. After all, their village was not wealthy, and had a single adult den den mushi on it in case of emergencies. No one would want to buy a camera den den(because they were ridiculously expensive and hard to use properly), so for most people memories were the only way they had to remember.

Drazen had begun making some pocket money by drawing people so that they'd always have an image of their family and friends.

The poor kid always seemed dissatisfied with his drawings though, like they were never good enough.

But his journals, the few times anyone had gotten a look into them, were works of art(especially for such a young kid). Clearly going over every random bit of knowledge that he found, with accurate drawings included, they all knew that Drazen would probably end up a scholar of some type one day.

Maybe he would become the town chronicler, in addition to whatever trade he got into.

*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*

Diardi Drazen wanted to know and learn. Not for the sheer sake of knowing or because it would be useful in life(though those were bonuses), but rather so that he could preserve and share it one day.

Most people never shared their knowledge except to an apprentice or student, and some never shared at all. When someone died, their story, their knowledge and skills and wisdom, died with them.

And perhaps the other people in Amayar thought he was strange. Most of them seemed to think he was just writing out how to do the things they taught him so that he wouldn't forget, like when Perry showed him how to keep the fire in the forge at the right temperature for different metals and what affected which ore. And they weren't wrong, he also did that.

But he wrote down the stories that went with the skills, and other stories beside. Every merchant would tell him of the places they'd gone, every old-timer what their childhood had been like. He wrote down every myth and legend, every tall tale anyone would tell him.

His favorite stories, however, were when Perry and Christana would tell him of his dead parents, and what they had done together when they were children.

Yes, he remembered his past life in a world far different than this one, and maybe that was what drove him to document everything. Though back then, he'd worked for newspapers and magazines mostly, and used a camera instead of drawing.

In this new world however, cameras and phones seemed to be these really creepy snails. Drazen did not care if he had to get really good at drawing, or reinvent photography from his previous life, he was not touching those creepy snail things.

He only remembered the basics of how a camera worked, so drawing skills it was.

It wasn't that he was bad at drawing, in fact his fine motor skills were extremely high and would only improve with age. But currently his drawings lacked true realism, and probably wouldn't get that until he'd been drawing for a while. It could be useful in capturing scenes that you couldn't take a snapshot of in that moment, cameras couldn't exactly work entirely off of memory.

And so, for the next couple of years, until Drazen turned twelve, he learned from the people of Amayar. He got the best at blacksmithing, because Perry and Christana had taken him in so the least the young boy could do was to aid their business. He learned basic first aid from the healer, and how to do minor boat repairs from the villages carpenter/'shipwright', he learned how to properly fish and navigate and tell when a storm was coming from the fishermen and the occasional merchant(they also taught him how to haggle properly, after first swindling him a little in the name of 'learning'), carving from the farmer that had taken it up as a hobby, and much more beside.

It was enough to fill up a journal that he'd titled "The Village of Amayar: People and Methods", then waterproofed until it wouldn't dissolve in a little rain or sea travel. Drazen had even contributed a little of the wilderness survival knowledge he knew from his before because he was a member of the village as well.

The trip that Perry had taken Drazen with him to Alabasta when he was eleven really helped to cement the idea of a new world and what he planned on doing for a living once he was old enough.

The desert related knowledge and the idea that there were kingdoms and a World Government could probably fill up a journal each eventually. Drazen had a bit of pocket money from selling portraits, which he mostly used to buy paper with the exception of one book.

It was not a very good or informative book, but it was a start. Yes he knew that he lived on the Grand Line and that there was a vast mountain range called the Red Line and four Blue Seas, but beyond that people weren't too interested in far off geography. This book… while clearly heavy on propaganda and heavily emphasizing Marines as "The great bastion of Justice, that protected the world from Pirate Scum and Evil Revolutionaries and other Insurgents", also had some information on the geography of the world and how it could be travelled or explored(basically, only Marines or occasionally Pirates or Revolutionaries could even begin to do so).

But seriously, that was the best book Diardi Drazen could find detailing even a bit of the makeup of the world, how to travel, who was in charge, etc. And it was lame and blatantly false in areas, while being overly complicated or vague in others. It didn't even have a basic map, for crying out loud.

So, after Perry and Drazen packed up their wares to head back to Amayar(with Drazen having collected quite a bit of new paper from the larger markets of Nanohana), Drazen decided that he'd write about the world in as accurate and easily understandable way that anyone would be able to get it.

Because this new world was so amazing, and the only people that seemed disposed to actually check it out were extremely militarily inclined. It was not wrong to know how to defend yourself, in fact Amayar held quarterstaff and longbow tournaments every year with anyone allowed to compete(those wooden weapons were made from a type of wood known to only grow on Amayar), but only Pirates or Marines seemed to actively travel the world even though other people might have the capabilities of doing so.

Because apparently, the age of regular civilian explorers ended four hundred years ago with some guy named Nolan. Who, for some reason was considered a liar by basically the entire world, even though the people on the Grand Line should at the very least consider half an island vanishing as a possibility.

Three Seakings, a massive purple and pink striped turtle with laser eyes, five separate predatory bird attacks, a massive hole in the ocean, and a bit 'too friendly' dolphin the size of a house had all nearly destroyed the merchant vessel they were aboard during their relatively short trip.

And apparently, that was better than usual for this stretch of ocean.

Now, Pirates and Marines were the only ones having adventures and it grated at Drazen. He'd never been barred from travelling around the world of before, sure, people had thought he was stupid for going into so many danger zones(a fact that had eventually killed him, so maybe they had a point) but that hadn't prevented him from visiting active volcanos and war zones. It just gave him a lot of information about various cultures and how to survive in various inhospitable regions.

When he informed his village about how he was going to travel the world and write down stuff about it for the rest of the people of the world to read, they'd all just smiled, patted his head, and taught him two more things.

How to create workable bows and arrows, even from wood inferior to the special wood of Amayar, and that he should carve important things that happen to him on a staff(it was a village tradition to give anyone going on a long voyage a quarterstaff to carve important experiences on. Mostly so that they could smack people upside the head with 'wisdom and experience').

It was pure luck that they'd done so, because not even an entire year later, no one would have been able to pass on this knowledge to another ever again.

*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*

It was a balmy spring day, and everyone was out enjoying the weather. It was relatively early in the morning, and all the fishermen had already gone out for the first catch of the day. It was market day, and so everyone was out buying and selling, with a number of merchants from other islands there to capitalize upon it.

Once a week, Amayar would hold an extended market as a day of relative 'rest' for its inhabitants. Early in the day, people would go out, greet their fellow citizens, and the evening would be a time for family.

On this particular day, when the market was particularly crowded, no one noticed a ship that appeared on the horizon and made haste toward the island. For while the citizens normally did not care if vessels visited their island, this time they would have.

For the ship flew a black flag.

A flag that belonged to those who would enjoy doing nothing less than killing and destroying.

A Pirate flag belonging to a man with a Paramecia Devil Fruit named Captain Shmalz Tallow.

*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*

 **:Can anyone guess which story I based Amayar off of, bonus points if they know why as well. And no, it doesn't count if you have to look it up. Regardless, I shall tell you all next chapter, so look forward to that. Also, the pirate captains name is a pun made off his Devil Fruit, which I also dare you to guess. And next time, we have sad backstory chapter! Except it's not as sad as most of the ones in the story...**


	3. Like a Wave

**So. Yeah, I realized that the name of my bad guy could be taken in an entirely different way. Kudos to all those who guessed a size changing Devil Fruit, but I got that name from taking two different types of fats used in either soap or food production. Mostly because the fat pairs well with his Devil Fruit. Imagine the guy as being a big tub of lard as well. My attempt at a joke, failed very badly.**

 **Also, Amayar is the name of an island in the book series Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan. The people of this island are known to be pacifists protected by a separate group of wandering seafarers that call this island their home as well. At the end of the series *spoilers*, they mass suicide because a supposedly unbreakable statue randomly breaks, killing even the children with poison. They did this because they believe in reincarnation, both of individuals and of the ages of the word(basically, the story is a part of one age, our world would be one age, and One Piece would be another, as an example. these ages would respawn every time they passed entirely out of remembrance of anything). With the breaking of the statue they believed that the entire universe would die, every person would die, and it would just be a void ruled over by their universes version of the Devil.**

 **I thought the death, reincarnation, and connection to wandering seafarers would work well with what I wanted to do.**

 **I do not own One Piece, or any original work that I may pull inspiration from. Citations on first page.**

Chapter 3

No one would survive, Captain Tallow was sure. This island had sent out a message to Alabasta as soon as they realized that pirates were attacking so he had to destroy them on principle.

It was quite a shame, for if they'd just given him all of their valuables and not contacted Alabasta he would have at least let some of them survive. But now that they had ruined his plan and made certain that the Marines would try to capture him, he had no choice.

He would kill them using his Devil Fruit, destroy their island, and make it very hard for anything to live on it. And best of all, it would stand as testament to what would happen to you if you crossed Captain Shmalz Tallow of the Salt Cure Pirates!

*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*

On the other side of the island, completely unaware of what was currently happening, a twelve year old was crouched down in the middle of the forest leaning against a stick of Amayar wood. He had a good reason to be there and not at the market helping Perry sell forge work.

There was a turtle on the island that wasn't supposed to be there.

Most people would wonder how a kid(but only for another year, then people would have to start calling him a teenager) knew that a particular turtle did not belong on a particular island. And normally, kids wouldn't know. But Diardi Drazen had extensively documented all of the wildlife on Amayar and could say that this turtle definitely wasn't native.

Also, the turtle was an almost tie-dyed pink-orange-yellow that was reminiscent of the sunset or sunrise, as well as having wings.

Drazen labelled it the incredibly creative name of Dawn Turtle, drew a picture of it, and then began writing out his observations. It was actually pretty interesting to find that the Dawn Turtle's diet consisted mostly of fish and small birds, but that it wouldn't turn down other meat if offered.

Though he did wonder how a creature so obviously adapted for high altitude would end up in Amayar(years later, when a small family of Kakahito's, as it turns out their species was called, cuddle up to him with obvious gratitude for sharing his food with them he'll remember the small but pretty turtle he'd seen on that day with a wistful smile).

While Drazen was in the middle of drawing the turtle, however, it suddenly let out a weirdly trumpet sounding alarm and took off into the air. Which, considering how placid the little guy had been and how the young boy could hear a lot more animals moving quickly through the woods, probably meant that something major was happening.

Convinced that a forest fire was happening, and that he should probably make his way to the beach to avoid it, Drazen began heading to the nearest tunnel that lead out to the sea. But, even though the kid moved quickly, it wasn't quickly enough.

Because it wasn't a forest fire, which he would have been fast enough to avoid. No, instead it was a wave of some kind of mostly clear liquid, a highly corrosive liquid if the way the forest and vegetation responded when engulfed in it was an indicator.

Drazen was fast enough to reach the tunnels.

He was even fast enough to reach the main cave.

That didn't matter, when the hiss of something that poisonous roared through narrow tunnels faster than you could run. When the only reason you weren't completely engulfed was because of a major head start.

The were two reasons Diardi Drazen didn't die an extremely painful death that day. The first was that he'd managed to scramble up some of the rocks in the cave and onto a ledge even through the burning pain when that liquid had first hit him. The second was that Shmalz Tallow deemed the island sufficiently ravaged and decided to escape with the spoils before the Marines or Alabasta showed up to investigate, thus ending his attack utilizing his emitter type Paramecia the Lye-Lye Fruit.

Drazen would still end up with several nasty scars from a lack of immediate medical aid from his encounter with the strong base, one of them even splashing up his neck and onto the lower part of his face.

That day would end up being the first he carved on his staff, represented by a simple seeming wave design curling around the bottom part of it. This design, while signalling the destruction of Amayar, would also represent the island itself.

After managing to wash the substance off in the ocean, it would take several hours before Drazen recovered enough to check on the rest of the island.

If he were actually the kid that he appeared to be, the sight that greeted him when he reached the place where his village once stood would have completely destroyed him.

As it was, Diardi Drazen would continue to have nightmares about it for the rest of his life, and never forget how horrible and wasteful death could be.

*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*

Captain Shmalz Tallow was not a particularly smart man. Nor was he cunning, except in that way that small vermin are cunning, specifically to preserve their own lives. He was the opposite of humble, and if not for having his Devil Fruit none would have followed him because of his penchant for overestimating himself and causing the death of his followers.

Only when terrorizing islands lacking a proper military presence and thus any means of defending themselves, did he ever truly come out on top of the situation.

This was fortunate fro Tallow, because there were many islands like that all over the world.

There were also many men similar to Shmalz Tallow in the world.

One thing that Captain Tallow excelled at, however, was being exceedingly cruel. He was the kind of person who would do things out of sheer malice, a sense of entitlement, a sadistic reasoning. He was not a nice man at all, in any idea of the word.

Captain Tallow barely even needed an excuse to use his powers on a defenseless island, and on the people residing within. His power, like the man himself, was not nice.

It could emit Lye, mostly in a basic liquid form that burned and ate away on contact. People who did not know called it acid, but in truth a powerful base is just as bad as a powerful acid. After years of having his Devil Fruit, Tallow had learned to use other forms of lye, depending on the situation(after accidentally creating soap, his ship become one of the cleanest pirate ships in the world. Because for all of his faults, Shmalz truly believed that uncleanliness was an inexcusable crime).

The worst thing that Shmalz Tallow figured out how to do with his Devil Fruit, the thing that earned his crew's name of Salt Cure, was preservation. It sounds like something innocuous at first, until the realization dawns. He uses his powers to quickly catch and cure people, leaving only their frozen corpses behind.

No matter how quick it happens, it is not quick enough in their death. Nothing that Tallow does results in anything but a slow and painful death.

That is how Diardi Drazen finds his people, frozen like statues in pain and fear. That is how he finds his home, with everything but the foundations eaten away by the powerful lye.

By the time he got to the village, Tallow's ship was already long gone, never to be seen again by Drazen(it would not be for many years until he found out both the name of the one who

destroyed his home, as well as what happened to those pirates).

Hours later, as the sun begins to sink towards the horizon, the first Marine ship arrives. It had been the closest when the People of Amayar had sent out their S.O.S. Those Marines would find the desolation of the town, with people frozen like shadows and the forest half destroyed, and would see the one living being standing there in the midst of it as though a member of the dead.

Frozen in shock, the old veteran doctor would say. The doctor, the captain, and a small number of veterans that had been in the Marines for many years, were the only ones that managed to keep their lunches at the sight. As more people came, and the situation was realized, those who could handle it began to dig a grave.

Diardi Drazen stayed long enough for his people to be buried, before the Marines took him with them to Alabasta to recoup and report the destruction of Alabasta's protectorate before heading back to their base and handing a final report in to their boss, who would send in another report to Marineford.

In those days, attacks such as this were far too common, and many time the Marines would arrive just a little bit too late. It was a sad but true fact the world over.

*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*

(As the small collection of Marine Battleships and a small number of merchants heads back to Alabasta, the only Marine currently on the ship that has a child is assigned to watch the sole survivor of Amayar. The boy is very quiet, holding onto a staff and a small bag of possessions that seemed to be mostly made up of journals, the only things he had that weren't destroyed. While not particularly the best with children, this Marine did try his best to comfort the twelve year old, only a few years younger than his son.

The young Marine Captain puts his arm around Drazen and tells him about the East Blue, where the Marine is from. The Captain continues the story until the kid falls asleep, and the man is relieved from his post. This happens each day during the seven day journey it takes to reach Alabasta. It also had the unintentional side effect of causing Diardi Drazen to associate the East Blue with exuberant and crazy, but kind hearted and safe people.

This would eventually lead to Drazen trusting someone who he might not have otherwise, and to often visit the East Blue later in life.

This would also cause the Marine Captain to make it his personal mission to avenge the island of Amayar, and bring in the pirate that destroyed it. That man would succeed, and never forget the kid that just stood there quietly, with eyes far to old and with a silent sort of grief.

It would be many years until Diardi Drazen and Monkey D Garp met face to face again.)

*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*

 **:Most names of places and things will be either references or puns, some of which wont make sense to anyone but me. Plus, on the subject of Garp, what's the point of having a non canon character if not to have them interact with canon characters. That's the whole point to it. Plus, Drazen wont meet anyone canon for a bit after this...**

 **Oh, and to anyone that thinks I'm being really harsh, well. Think back to every backstory in One Piece. Drazen's is actually not as bad as some of them. Like Law, or Robin, or basically everyone except for Usopp.**


	4. Predator and Prey

**Headcannon is that Garp tries to adopt everyone. No, seriously, it makes perfect sense. And, in case you think he's being a bit out of character in this chapter, remember. This is a younger, less experienced Garp witnessing the aftermath of a massacre and taking care of the only survivor. Who happens to be a kid younger than his son. Garp can be serious in the face of loss if Luffy can(and we know Luffy can).**

 **I do not own One Piece, or any original work that I may pull inspiration from. Citations on first page.**

Chapter 4

Diardi Drazen was silent to every Marine except for Garp. The kid even refused to talk unless only Grap was present. It wasn't that he necessarily disliked the Marines taking him to Alabasta, or blamed them for not getting to Amayar quicker to save his village, his mind was far to old for such narrow thoughts.

But he was still a kid, barely twelve, and now completely alone in the world. He was also different from other twelve year olds, and knew how people tended to react to those with differences. Drazen would not be able to trust many people at this time.

The boy was also grieving, and considering how he was naturally quiet anyway, the pain of loss just made him even more quiet.

It was right before the ship docked in Nanohana that the silent contemplation paid off for Drazen, however. He'd been debating on what he should do now, since as a kid he would probably be seen as incapable of taking care of himself for one reason or another.

However, his mind was that of an adults, and his body was old enough physically to be able to mostly take care of itself. He didn't want to go to an orphanage or whatever would come of it. So he decided that once in Alabasta he would start his journey to see the world, slowly at first, but in a few years he would probably be able to go into the uncharted territory of the New World.

*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*

As Diardi Drazen decided that he was going to get away from Alabasta as quickly as possible, Garp was busy arguing with his superiors.

It was about the little orphaned boy(Of course. Monkey D Garp had been attempting to adopt people, and oftentimes successfully getting them under his command in the Marines, since his son had been born and his own fatherly instincts along with it. His most well known adoptions would be two grandsons, but that didn't mean that he'd never stopped deciding he liked people and taking them on as family. However, since most of those were adults or had families of their own his efforts went unacknowledged by all but his closest friends.).

"I could take him, sir," Garp said to his superior officer, "I have a son about two years older than him, I'm sure they'd get along."

"With what time," The Commodore demanded, "I get it, Monkey, you want to help the kid. But we've got to deal with the pirate infestation here, and we're underpowered as it is. We can't afford to look after a kid, or take him to any place other than Alabasta. If you really want to adopt him, it can wait until after we prevent more massacres like Amayar from happening. And that's final."

Garp simply gave a short nod, and left with a frown on his face. He really did want to take the kid with him, but he wouldn't put a traumatised kid through even more trauma, or leave other islands undefended. He could only hope that by the time he got back the young boy was still there, and willing to go with him.

*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*

They docked in Nanohana in the late afternoon, and in the commotion it was easy for Drazen to take off without anyone noticing. But he did leave a note for Garp, to let the man know that he was okay.

But, he had to leave quickly. It wouldn't take long for someone to realize he was missing, and Drazen knew that Garp at the very least would stop him. And, the young boy knew that he wouldn't have the heart to leave if Garp asked him to stay.

However, he didn't really have any money, which presented a problem. If he was older, Drazen would just ask to be taken on as a cabin boy or something, but he doubted anyone would take him on as he was now.

So stowing away it was. And then, once they get to Jaya(the next stop for pretty much every ship that didn't spend the extra money on an Eternal Pose), he'd just get off and find some way to get a little bit of money for passage to the next island.

Yeah, it was either sell stuff that is findable in the woods or through fishing or maybe carving some trinkets, or pickpocketing. But, since most of the people on Jaya were pirates, and most of their money was illegally acquired anyway, he wouldn't feel bad about it.

What Diardi Drazen didn't realize, though, was who the ship he decided to stow away on belonged to. It wasn't really his fault, not knowing how to pick out the type of ship by simply the look and feel.

It didn't take him very long after they left Alabasta's shore to realize it, though.

The Swooping Gull belonged to the very worst type of animal poachers.

*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*

To Diardi Drazen's credit, it took the smugglers five days to figure out there was a stowaway, and another day to catch him.

He would have chosen another vessel if he'd have known what the sailors were doing on the ship. But instead he'd been in such a hurry he hadn't even bothered to check. 'Well', the young boy promised himself grimly as dirty sailors dragged him to the rather repulsive looking and smelling captain of the ship, 'If I make it out alive I'll be sure to check each ship before I board it from now on. At least I hid all of my stuff before they found me, so that's something.'

Of course, the way things were going the possiblity of surviving seemed like a very big if.

While seeming like a normal, if fairly disreputable, ship on the surface, one look in the lower levels would be enough to prove the terror of the place. Crowded, dirty, and cramped stalls filled with various exotic animals lined the lower levels of the ship. Many of the animals were incapable of moving, some of even standing, and were simply laying in their own feces.

Some were already dead and rotting, and disease ran rampant through the ship. But none of the smugglers cared, because the price for the skins and body parts was also fairly high, and the people they sold to didn't really care how they came.

It was clear that the animals were suffering, but as it was there was nothing Drazen could do to help, not even giving them a peaceful end. And he was probably just as dead as they were.

"Well, well, well," The Captain said in a nasally voice, "Looks like we caught ourselves a little rat, whatever shall we do with it."

This of course caused the entire crew to chuckle menacingly before one guy piped up, "We could throw 'im in with the cargo, we're already goin' ta Sabaody anyway."

The Captain looked considering before shaking his head, "Naw, he's too young and wimpy looking, wouldn't be worth the price carting him over there would create," Then an evil grin lit up his face, "However, that special critter we found needs feeding, and I don't want to have to give it any of the cargo. Throw the rat into that things room, I'm sure we'll be rid of him soon enough."

And the two men who had dragged Drazen to the Captain originally began to drag him back into the bowels of the ship. However they turned toward a different direction than the way they'd taken to reach the surface, and began walking down an empty corridor filled with doors. Stopping by the last door, one of the men leaned down and began to speak as the other unlocked the door.

"This here corridor's for the extra valuable cargo, especially if it's valuable alive. We found something that will pay us handsomely, a curious critter for sure, and it's probably pretty hungry by now," The man grinned with a mouthful of rotted teeth, "And you get to be it's dinner."

Then they quickly shoved him into a very dim room(there appeared to be several vents for fresh air to the outside, but they all seemed to be heavily barred) and locked the door behind him.

Drazen landed heavily on the floor, and hoped that whatever it was was asleep. He hadn't heard anything that indicated movement but he hoped…

And that was when he looked up. Into the slitted amber eyes of a very large, very thin feline.

*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*

 **:Cliffhanger! Don't worry, though, nobody important will die next chapter.**

 **It's also weird creating so many random villains that are pretty much unimportant. I love having bad guys to move the plot along, though, so be prepared for the very worst that humanity has to offer. Most of them will be utterly destroyed by a good guy, though, so it all evens out.**

 **Also, I introduced an important recurring character in this chapter. The person(s) that guesses who it is will be mentioned in the next chapter at the top, for bragging rights. So be sure to tell me if you think you know(and Garp doesn't count).**

 **Also, to everyone reading World's Greatest Swordsman. I haven't forgotten it, however the chapter I'm on is giving me a bit of difficulty. I'll try to get it done as soon as possible.**


End file.
